I want an 8 team playoff for intriguing matchups like this
this year it would’ve been #1 Alabama vs #8 Cincinnati. I’m not saying Cincy could win but I think they could keep it interesting for a while. And itd be good for the little schools in terms of recruiting and building their brand so maybe we don’t see Bama, Clemson, Ohio State every year .
I’m for no more than 6. P5 champs plus one group of 5/at-large/indies with qualified rankings.
Qualifiers
P5 Champ/Highest ranked and Indies - Need to be top 5 in the final ranking
Group of 5 - Need to be top 8 in the final ranking to counter their weaker schedule that could lead to bias from the committee.
If the team doesn’t qualified, they get passed up by the next best team.
So the teams this year would’ve looked like this in a normal year schedule.
First weekend of bowls/First CFP Round
#1 Alabama - Bye
#2 Clemson - Bye
#3 Ohio State vs #8 Cincinnati - @Columbus
#4 Notre Dame vs #5 Texas A&M - @South Bend
Semifinals
Rose Bowl
#1 Alabama vs Notre Dame/TAMU
Sugar Bowl
#2 Clemson vs Ohio State/Cincy
National Championship
Winners of the Sugar and Rose Bowl
Pac-12 - No team since USC (#17) finished outside the top 5
Big 12 - No team since Oklahoma (#6) finished outside the top 5